


Graveyard Shift

by xXScreenSaverXx (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Blood Drinking, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hal is a vampire y'all, M/M, Roommates, Unrelated Dirk and Hal, ish, thats the tea folks, they dont have sex but it gets pretty suggestive, they just make out a bunch, theyre roommates and hals a vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-22 23:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20000392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/xXScreenSaverXx
Summary: Dirk is pretty sure- no, Dirk is certain that his roommate, Hal, is a murderer. Or a thug. Or, in the very least, some sort of adrenaline junky. Anything that could explain his long absences, those $500 bags under his eyes, and the red stains that sporadically decorate at least half of his clothes. But of all the baseless and frankly confusing explanations that Dirk could come up with, Hal being a vampire was sure as hell not one of them.(Shit, he's off his game)





	Graveyard Shift

**Author's Note:**

> i have no excuses for this pointless garbage pile. i hope ya enjoy this wreck more than i do. if ya come across any glaring errors please point them out! :)

Dirk and his roommate weren’t friends. They got along fine, and he really did appreciate it when Hal washed the dishes or cleaned the living room (although the latter happen so rarely that often Dirk is the one left to that particular job). But they weren’t friends. He can remember when they first moved in together. At Roxy’s insistence, he’d half-heartedly posted an ad online, secretly praying that nobody would bother answering.

 _‘I’d be a shitty roommate and I’d rather nobody replies’_ , he’d printed at the head of the advertisement before he’d detailed the apartment below. He’d only gotten one response – Hal.

The blonde had swept in without a care in the world, meeting Dirk’s deadpan with a smirk and a wink, coming back the next week with only a small suitcase to this name and a smile playing across his delicate features, wide and smug. Dirk had done his best to discourage the other man, but made no move to stop him. Of all the roommates he could have been saddled with, Hal wasn’t a bad one.

Most of the time, at least.

But there were days like today, Dirk took note, that his roommate situation looked a little bit questionable. Days where the smaller blonde would disappear for days on end, to return with deep bags under his eyes and red stains on his sleeves. Hal would only shake his head and slouch his way past Dirk, who would let it slide. He always did.

Because shit like his roommate possibly being a murderer, or the fact that Dirk had never seen the man in question sleep, or that he still wasn’t convinced that Hal actually had any family, seemed unimportant in the face of the truest fact that Dirk knew he and Hal weren’t friends. So Dirk would stand to the side and silently pass the other man a wet towel so he could scrub off the drying flecks of blood on his face, without saying a word.

Dirk had bad habits too. Not as bad as, say, homicide, but he knew he wasn’t easy to live with. He was awake until the early hours of the morning, hammering and banging away on his latest project. He’d put his dishes in the sink but refuse to wash them, and would leave books strews across the apartment until the floor was just a fleeting memory. Anyone else would have grown tired of his shit months ago. Not Hal, though. Hal, who would look across the room that looked like a bomb site and smile affectionately, and hum while he ordered the bookshelves alphabetically. Hal, who instead of yelling at him for being loud, would come and perch on the arm of the sofa and watch Dirk’s progress, before wandering off to blare the TV obnoxiously.

So maybe he and his roommate weren’t friendly, but in the very least, there was a part of Dirk that cared. So, when Hal takes off one day, as he’s so prone to do, and doesn’t return for a week, Dirk sat the fuck up and took notice. Mainly because these days Hal made up about 90% of his impulse control, and without the smaller man there to kick Dirk into living ‘correctly’, the sink started overflowing, the floor had become distant memory, buried beneath several layers of junk and debris, and he’s almost positively certain sure that the last thing he ate was three days ago, and was also a jar of Nutella (made worse by the fact that he hadn’t even made it into a sandwich. He’d just pulled out a spoon and gone to town. Dirk was sure, _sure_ , that that was rock bottom).

The city was cold and dark at night. It was still bustling, but in a much more subdued way, giving it a dream-like quality that Dirk wasn’t really sure how to feel about. He’d set off into the world without a clue where to start, beyond yelling ‘Hal!’ like the other was a missing dog.

Dirk regretted not learning more about his roommate. It would have made finding him a whole lot easier, that was for sure. Eventually, he settled for checking the nearby alleys and winding backstreets. Probably not a safe move, but Dirk, at six foot four and a build to match, was too tired to give two shits. He just wanted one good night’s sleep. Just one. But he didn’t hold out much hope, as he’d spilled motor oil all over his bed the previous night, and was too inept to remember how to properly work the washing machine. Goddamnit, Hal had broken his ability to fend for himself.

“Hal?” he called out, scanning the area aimlessly. Dirk sighed. “Where the heck are you, asshole?”

Hours passed. Dirk got cold. Eventually, he called it a day – a _night_ , even – and turned to trudge back home. He pushed himself past the towering darkened buildings until he reached his own, doing a double-take as he heard a sharp yell from behind him. He spun around to see a tall man running towards him, flailing his arms wildly.

“You!” the man puffed, catching his breath as he came to a stop. “Are you Dirk?”

Dirk nodded slowly. The man straightened himself up, running a tanned hand through his orange hair. “Shit dude, where the hell have you been?” Dirk raised an eyebrow judgingly, still not speaking. “A man of few words, huh? Well, that’s not important. I kind of, maybe, might need your help.”

“My help? I don’t know you,” Dirk replied. His voice was dull and blunt, causing the stranger to blink, seemingly surprised.

“Hal didn’t mention me?” living ‘correctly’,

“You know _Hal?”_

“Of course I do!” the man yelped, pouting. “And that’s what I need your help with!” Dirk waved his hand in the universal motion to continue. The man wasted no time. “He’s at my place right now, but he’s not looking too good. I don’t know what happened!” he added when Dirk narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “He just turned up and collapsed, right onto my couch! And man, I need that couch, I can’t have guys swooning like fair maidens and hogging all my space. I get that I’m swoon-able and all that shit, but this is taking it too far! I have no idea what the heck is going on.”

“And you need me because…?”

“He asked for you! Well, he mumbled for you and passed out again, but that’s pretty much the same thing, right?” Dirk didn’t think that it was the same thing but nodded reluctantly anyway.

He let out a strangled sigh. “Lead the way, then.” The two men took off into the night once again.

It only took Dirk twenty minutes to reach the stranger's apartment, who in the meantime had reassured him that ‘ _You can just call me Dove! Everyone else does!’_ Dirk was sure he’d forget.

The door was unlocked and pushed open with a surprising slam, Dove chuckling awkwardly. “He’s probably still on the couch, so…” he trailed off. Dirk took that as his cue.

He ventured into the darkened room, scanning the room before his eyes landed on a dark shape, swaddled in blankets and curled in on itself. Dirk let himself get closer, curiously prodding the mound that he immediately recognized as Hal. His roommate groaned at the touch, curling in on himself even further, hugging his knees to his chest.

“What’s wrong with him?” Dirk asked. Dove just gave a shrug that he’d tried to disguise as casual, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed his worry.

“He just turned up like this, I have no idea what’s wrong. He wouldn’t take any painkillers or anything.”

Dirk gazed down at the swaddled mass of throw blankets and pillows, before shaking his head and leaning in to tentatively touch his palm to his roommates’ forehead. It was ice cold. He yanked his hand away, blinking in shock.

“Yeah, I had the same reaction. Hence the panic, dude. I am in way over my head here,” Dove admitted. Dirk gave him a tense smile in response.

“I’ll take him. He’ll probably be better off in his own bed,” he decided, placing his arms around Hal’s lithe frame to list him up in a princess carry, hugging the surprisingly cold man to his chest. He shook off the blankets that came with his, teeteringly slightly before regaining his balance to turn to Dove, who shot him a grateful look and hooked open the door.

“Thanks, man. I didn’t know what else to do, and it’s been a couple of days so I was really getting worried there. Make sure he texts me when he’s better, yeah?”

After agreeing and shaking off more thanks from Dove, Dirk stepped out of the main building and onto the street. It was quieter now, the sky brightening slightly in preparation for the fast-approaching dawn. He tugged Hal in tighter, fixing his grip before taking off back down the sidewalk towards their own building.

With one hand Dirk awkwardly got the door unlocked, kicking it open wider with his foot as he maneuvered his way in, arms still full with Hal’s limp form. He grimaced slightly at the mess he was greeted with, proof of the other's absence. The journey to Hal’s room was treacherous, every step threatening to send Dirk sprawling onto the floor, but eventually he made it, gently lowering him onto the bed.

In a rare moment of fondness, he gazed down, frowning slightly at the pained panic Hal’s features seemed to be locked in. With an unsteady hand, he skimmed his forehead, fingertips grazing the skin as he swept the hair from Hal’s eyes. Then, stepping back, he turned around, slowly shut the door, and took his leave. Sleep seemed impossible that night. Partly because of Dirk’s oil-soaked duvet, but mostly out of a mixture of curiosity and concern. He busied himself with one of his endless projects, hunching over the coffee table for better light as he twisted the wires of the circuit board he was fiddling with in an attempt to keep himself occupied.

The sound of feet on the wooden floor yanked him from his reverie, looking suddenly up to see Hal standing in the doorway. His small form seemed even smaller in that moment, shaking slightly as he teetered in the entryway. His eyes were only half-open, blonde hair sticking up in all directions.

“Hal?” Dirk started, jerking as he started towards his roommate, a concerned flash crossing his features. “Are you okay?”

His voice seemed to only just reach Hal, who jumped, startled, as he noticed Dirk getting to his feet. His eyes widened, cringing slightly as he backed away. “Dirk? Dirk, you shouldn’t be here,” his voice sounded panicked, cracking slightly as he spoke. Dirk opened his mouth to reply but Hal continued sharply. “Where the heck am I?” he whispered, looking around before choking slightly when he recognized his surroundings. “Oh shit, shit, shit,” Hal chanted. “I can’t be here. Dirk, I can’t be here!”

“Why not?”

“I have to go, now!” Hal cried, starting towards the door with unsteady legs. His body betrayed him, his frail form giving out as he collapsed into a heap. Dirk rushed to his side.

“Hal, what the fuck is going on?” He demanded, fixing the other man with a powerful glare, placing his arms pathetically by his side, unsure whether or not to touch the man in front of him.

“I can’t tell you, but I can’t be here!” Another terrified look crossed Hal’s face as though he was fighting with himself, limps jerking forwards andbackward as he rocked himself violently.

“You shouldn’t be moving, you’re sick!”

“I’m not sick, I just..”

Dirk recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look that Hal got just before he disappeared off into the city for days, that same shaken expression plaguing his features when he returned with flecks of red in his fair and with a hollow, sunken gaze.

“Is this about the blood?” he cut Hal’s chattering off, firmly grasping the other’s shoulder, ignoring the soft gasp that played out for his trouble. “About the blood and the disappearing stunts you keep pulling?”

“I can’t tell you, Dirk,” Hal hisses out, hugging his arms to his chest. He was slumped onto the floor, with the air of a puppet with his strings cut. “I can’t, I-“

“Can’t, or won’t?” Dirk cut in.

“I…” Hal sniffed, voice small and shallow. Dirk felt like his heart was breaking. “You’ll hate me. I’ve never had a friend like you before, and…”

“We’re friends?”

“Yeah! I mean, I clean your dishes and we play games together, and we have those amazing movie nights, and-“ he cut himself off, gazing up at Dirk with wide, tear-filled eyes. “We _are_ friends, right?”

Dirk gazed back down at the man huddled on the floor. “Yeah, Hal. We’re friends. And that means you can tell me anything, and I won’t hate you for it.”

Hal let out a hollow laugh. “That’s bullshit!”

Dirk fixed him with a vacant stare. “Hal, if I’m willing to be your friend despite the fact that I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’re a serial killer, I’m sure I can handle the truth.”

“I- What? I’m not a serial killer, you douchebag!” Hal smiled slightly, rubbing at his eyes with he back of his hand. “Though,” his smile drooped slightly, “you might not be too far off.” Dirk raised an eyebrow sceptically for the hundredth time that night. Hal huffed. “Promise you won’t hate me?”

“I promise. Now get on with it!”

They looked at each other for a minute, before pushing to their feet and coming to a stand in the middle of the room. Hal looked around, rolling his eyes slightly. “Wow, you really let this place go! Jesus Dirk, I’ve been gone for a week, not a year!”

“You’re putting it off,” Dirk reminded him bluntly. Hal sighed.

“Okay. So… Here it is.”

Immediately, Hal’s eyes flared blood red, glowing luminously in the darkened light of the room. He flashed Dirk a small, hesitant smile, lips curling up to reveal the bottoms of the fangs that Dirk was sure were _definitely_ not there five seconds ago. He sputtered, taking a couple of quick, panicked steps backward, almost tripping over his own feet.

“They’re- You’re a-“

“Vampire? Wild, right?”

“What the fuck, Hal?!” Dirk screeched out, bowing down towards the couch to grab a pillow and chuck it the fuck at his eldritch being of a roommate. Hal took a step towards him, and Dirk jerked backward in response, heartbeat thumping wildly in his ears.

“Okay, so don’t overreact, but-“

“Don’t overreact? Dude!”

“That’s what I mean! You’re overreacting!”

“You’re a vampire! I’m reacting to a perfectly appropriate extent!”

“You promised you wouldn’t hate me!” Hal yelled back, tears welling up slightly. Dirk reacted quickly.

“I don’t! I just…” He strode forward until there was only a small gap between the two of them. “If I didn’t hate you when I thought you were slaughtering innocent people for shits and giggles, why would I hate you now?”

“Because you’re a stupid asshole?”

“Unnecessary, Hal. Unnecessary.” He rolled his eyes. “Wait,” he wondered out loud. “Is this why you collapsed on Dove’s couch?”

Hal blinked, taking a step back and refusing to meet Dirk’s gaze. “We don’t get hungry very often. Blood has enough nutrients to keep us going for a long time so we only ever have to feed every month or so. I just haven’t exactly been getting my five-a-day recently, and it caught up.”

“You haven’t been feeding often enough? But you go out every month!”

Hal shot him a tired, wry smirk. “Not everyone is as stupid as you. People generally aren’t okay with the whole…”

“Blood sucking thing?”

“Yeah, that. And the people that are only want to give a tiny bit! So I’ve been getting some, just not enough.”

Dirk’s eyes rove across the vampire’s form, taking in the pallor of his skin and the way his legs shook as he stood, as though they were having trouble supporting his weight. He sucked in a breath at a sudden realisation. “You’re starving, aren’t you?” Hal’s eyes remained fixed on the floor and Dirk tensed, formulating a response. “You don’t drink all of their blood? They survive?”

“Of course they do! I wouldn’t kill someone over a meal!” came the indignant response.

“Then come here,” Dirk sighed, accepting the best course of action. He moved over to the couch, collapsing onto the cushions with a sigh and reclining back, motioning Hal to follow. “You need blood, I’ve got some to spare, right?”

Hal sputtered. “I can’t just take yours!”.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re friends! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Did it hurt the other people you fed from?”

That gave Hal a reason to pause. “Well, no. I guess it didn’t.”

“Then stop being a pussy about it and get your scrawny ass over here!” Was the only response.

Hal acquiesced. With hesitant steps he made his way over to join Dirk, hovering over the chair before finally sinking onto the other end of the couch, wavering. Dirk let out a scoff, reaching over and pulling Hal on top of him. The smaller man's body covered his own, squawks of protest going ignored as he steadied himself on Dirk’s chest. His body was still cold, unnaturally so, but his presence remained, almost suffocating in a warm, sure way.

“Dirk, are you sure?” He asked, breath fanning softly over Dirk’s collarbone as he leaned in closer. In response, Dirk threaded his hands through Hal’s soft hair, dragging him closer. He leaned back towards the arm of the chair, baring his neck, the long column of bare skin causing Hal to freeze, staring.

“I wouldn’t have offered otherwise, idiot,” he hummed back almost affectionately, rolling his eyes behind his shades. He tapped Hal’s head a couple of times, urging him back into motion and re-securing the grip he had on the smaller man’s hair, pulling him forward until he felt Hal’s cold lips connect with his throat. Hal made a small noise, half a squeak and half a groan, inhaling softly.

“Once I do this, I can’t promise that it’ll never happen again,” he whispered, lips scraping softly over Dirk’s skin, causing him to shiver slightly.

“I know, Hal. Just take the damn blood before you actually starve, you idiot,” he replied impatiently. His roommate only chuckled.

“Whatever you say, boss.”

Later, once the act was over, Dirk would mentally curse his own existence at the way he squeaked like a kitten, his tough-guy façade melting away into a shivering nothing as Hal sunk his fangs into his neck. It wasn’t a shock, but he’d been unprepared for the stinging sensation that spread through his body that quickly gave way to a serene bliss. He felt like he was floating, his mind a haze of red and warmth as the venom coursed through his veins, leaving him in a state of indescribable comfort as the creature of the night in front of him drank and drank and _drank_. He curled his fingers around Hal’s shoulders, simultaneously pushing him away and pulling him in close, closer, cradling the other to his neck weakly as he felt his strength wane.

Then, without warning, Hal yanked himself away, tearing his fangs from Dirk, panting like he’d just run a marathon. Dirk slumped forward slightly before sluggishly regaining his balance, looking up to find Hal staring down at him, pupils dilated, and looking for all the world like a man feral, undone. His porcelain skin was stained red in places, the blood still dripping slightly from his mouth, the hints of fangs still visible from behind slightly parted lips. His previously sallow cheeks were rosy, a blush visible in the faint light as his eyes rove around Dirks body, glowing almost red in the darkness as he studied Dirk with the precision of a predator, stalking its prey.

There wasn’t time to even consider moving before Hal was on him again, shoving Dirk backward into the cushions of the sofa, holding him down with an inhuman, vice-like grip. By all accounts, the kiss should have been horrifying. But Dirk gave in quickly, surprise giving into a pleasant, malleable heat as he gave himself over, meeting the other man’s tongue with a sedated excitement, relishing the sweet taste of Hal’s mouth, even when coupled with the salty tang of his own blood that still stained the vampire’s teeth a deep red. They kept it up for several minutes, kissing deeper and deeper, like they were trying to absorb each other, Hal’s fingernails scraping into Dirk's arms. When he felt the skin break Hal broke the connection in favour of bending down to the scratch marks he’d just created and licking a broad stipe across them, before gently lapping up the dots of blood that welled up with small, kittenish swipes of his tongue.

Dirk stared, transfixed, as Hal dedicated himself to his job, swallowing down the blood while dragging his nails (which, at this point, Dirk just decided were more aptly described as fucking _claws)_ down Dirk’s chest, roughly pushing up his shirt, causing him to writhe at the sensation of pain before Hal’s mouth quickly followed, kissing and nipping a path down his collarbone, lapping at every inch of bare skin he could access. Hal reached the new claw marks with ease, seeming to pause for a second to admire the droplets of dark red as they welled up and ran down his stomach before laughing softly, darkly, and savouring them with an enthusiasm that had Dirk shaking.

Dirk leaned back into the cushions, powerless against Hal’s onslaught. He reached up with still shaky hands to his shades, slipping them off and throwing them over onto the nearby table, nearly missing as the vampire on top of him placed a well-timed nip to his chest, licking broadly across one of his nipples in the process. Dirk let out a shallow, breathy laugh at the sensation, Hal almost purring in response.

Luminescent red eyes met Dirks own amber ones, full of mirth but blown wide and overshadowed with lust.

“I told you, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from doing this again, now that I know what it’s like,” Hal cautioned, but his face was twisted in a greedy smirk, almost predatory in a way that made Dirk’s entire brain stutter, only partially due to the blood loss. In response he let out a smile of his own, leaning forward to mouth at Hal’s neck, drinking down the whimper and shiver that it solicited from his vampire.

“Somehow,” he chuckled, “I don’t think that that’ll be an issue.”


End file.
